Abrasive articles come in a variety of shapes and sizes to accommodate various abrasive applications. Such articles can generally be separated into two categories, bonded abrasive tools and coated abrasive tools. Bonded abrasive tools consist of rigid, and typically monolithic, three-dimensional, abrasive composites in the form of wheels, discs, and other tool shapes, having three structural elements or phases: abrasive grain, bond, and porosity. Coated abrasive articles typically consist of two-dimensional abrasive composites, having a substrate, a bonding layer and a single layer of abrasive grains contained within the bonding layer, the most common example being sand paper.
With respect to certain coated abrasive articles, some tools utilize metal-containing bonding material to affix abrasive grains to the substrate and are referred to as brazed abrasive products, which include superabrasive products such as metal-bonded diamond, diamond-like carbonaceous, and cubic boron nitride-based products having exceptional abrasive properties. Various techniques exist for forming the metal bonding layers, such as electroplating, which involves depositing a metal bonding layer on a substrate using electrical current. Abrasive grains can also be deposited while applying the metal bonding layer. Electroplating is limited in that not all abrasive particles form adequate bonds with electro-deposited metals, and is further limited since not all metals are capable of electrodeposition. Another method of forming brazed abrasive articles is by sintering the metal bonded layer, wherein the substrate, bonding layer, and abrasive grains are exposed to a temperature sufficient to melt the bonding material and secure the abrasive grains to the substrate. Sintering processes are generally long and expend substantial amounts of energy thus limiting processing efficiency, and may also result in non-uniformity of the brazed layer due to thermal variations within the furnace. Additionally, formation of unwanted interfacial substances due to high temperature diffusion mechanics may occur between the components after extended durations.
Accordingly, it would be suitable to develop abrasive tools having improved characteristics and improved methods of forming such abrasive tools.